Witch Magic (The Cindy Chronicles) (5 page)

My first thought after I slammed my window shut was that I needed to talk to my best friend, Snow. Taking a deep breath, I went to my bathroom and took in my reflection. My eyes were red and swollen. Haunted. Shocked. Horrified. At the memory, more tears fell.

“Mirror. Mirror. Made of glass. Show me Snow, do as I ask.”

Before I left Sharra, I enchanted all of Snow’s mirrors and promised her
I’d do the same to mine so we could always keep in touch, especially since cell service didn’t exist in Sharra. The way it worked was whichever mirror was closest would cause me to appear and vice versa.

My reflection wavered
back and forth until I vanished. In its place was a darkened room. I could hear kissing noises.

Damn. Snow and Dorian are doing it
, I thought allowing myself a moment to gross out. The polite thing would’ve been to say the words that would stop the magic, but I was desperate.

“Snow.” I clear
ed my throat. “Snow. Um, sorry, but I need to talk to you.”

I hear
d Snow giggle. Dorian cursed. My ears started to burn.

“I said I was sorry,
” I mumbled.

Some
one got out of bed. It was Snow. She quickly slid on a robe, flipped on a light, and scooted a chair in front of the mirror.

“Hey
Cin.” She sounded tired, but happy.

“
Hi,” I responded, trying not to act embarrassed. She looked beautiful. Being the Vampire Queen suited her. She wore a deep burgundy robe, and her long black hair was in a mussed braid.

“I thought we decided not to speak to each other after eleven o’clock. You know, for certain reasons.
” She glanced back at the bed. “I’m married now, you know.”

“Yeah, and I can’t keep m
y hands off her,” Dorian growled.

“I know but I really need to-talk-to-you.” I force out the words between hiccupped sobs.

“I’ll give you two some time alone,” Dorian said. He disappeared into their bathroom.

“Oh my gosh, Cindy. What’s the matter? What happened?” She touched the mirror and I instinctively leaned in.

“It’s Gabe,” I wailed, grabbing a tissue and blowing my nose. “I used a spell on him, and he says he doesn’t love me and I have a fairy godmother, and I might not even be from this planet.” My shoulders shook as all the stuff that’d been building up overwhelmed me.

“Hold it. One thing at a time,” she cooed softly.

I took a deep breath.

“Tell me about Gabe.”

I told her about the spell and how angry he got. I told her what he said and how he left. “It just can’t be. I don’t believe it.” I pressed my hand against the mirror. “Help me, Snow. Tell me what to do.”

Snow sighed heavily, f
licked her bangs from her eyes. “First, I don’t think spells work on the chayot. At least, not unless it’s a really, really powerful one. He probably was lying.”

I sniffled. “Are you just saying that to make me feel better?”

“Did it help?”

“A little.” I grabbed a new tissue and dabbed my eyes.

Snow cleared her throat. “I think I might know what’s going on…” She trailed off, looked away.

“Snow, tell me.”

She nodded. “You know chayot are like angels—”

I blew out my breath. “Yeah, I know. So?”

Snow folded her feet under her seat. Readjusted her robe. It was obvious what she had to say was huge. I ground my teeth. Waited, but it nearly killed me. “It seems the Big Guy upstairs has demanded that the chayot no longer date, marry, or have relations with a being that isn’t chayot.” She cleared her throat again. “I’m sorry he didn’t tell you himself, but when he told me he seemed devastated by the news.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I slapped my forehead. That
explained everything. The reasons why he acted like he wanted me one second and was an ass the next.

The
weight that’d been crushing my heart lifted. A little.

“He asked me not to. Said he wanted to do it himself. But I figure since he was a total jerk to you he can suck it.”

“Glad you told me. Not that it helps my situation, but at least I know why.”

“Yeah, it’s stupid, and who knows how long it’ll last. I think,” she coughed, “it might be
slightly
my fault.” She lifted her thumb and first finger together.

“How?”
I asked. Absently, I said the word to have my brush run its soft bristles through my hair. It was soothing.

“Well, I freed all magical creatures. Remember?”

I nodded. That I did remember. Right after the old Vampire Queen was no longer in power and Snow was.

Snow went on. “A lot of them have left Sharra and are roaming Earth the way they did thousands of years ago. It’s caused
a few problems.”

I raised my eyebrows in question. “A few?”

“Ugh, okay a lot. And that’s probably why the chayot and the Big Guy are freaking out. Their first priority on Earth is humans, and some of the creatures may be inadvertently putting human lives in danger.”

“So what you’re saying is you didn’t think the decision through, did you?”
I commanded the brush to stop and then put my hair in a ponytail.

“Yeah,
I may have to go back on my promise and make the magical creatures return to Sharra.” She took a deep breath. “Ruling is hard.” She grimaced.

“Yeah, I bet.” Her word
s remind me of Quilla and Leo, and their request that I go to Polonias. “Have you heard of a land called Polonias?” I blurted.

Her features
darkened. “Why?” She pulled her hair from its braid.

“I’ve talked to a couple of people from there. One claims to be my fairy godmother. The other…” I
let the sentence drop as Leo’s electric blue eyes and perfect dimples entered my mind.

“A prince named Leo?” Snow finished.

“He’s a prince?” I was shocked, but it wasn’t surprising. The way he carried himself. His confidence.

Snow
’s fangs grew and suddenly Dorian was behind her, stroking her shoulders. “He’s a pretentious pain in the nether regions. Whatever he has to say is either a lie or a ploy so he can get something he wants.”

“He showed me the land
of Polonias. Said it was dying and that I’m supposed to somehow save it. What should I do?” I shrugged; slightly jealous of the way Dorian was stroking Snow’s back.

“Tell him to go to hell
and leave you alone.”

“Sheesh, tell me how you really feel.”

Snow stood and Dorian’s arms surrounded her. “You can do what you want, of course. You always do, but I’m not a fan of Leolas.”

“Leo-
las? Is that his full name?”

“Yes,” she spat the word disgustedly.

“But what about the world? Professor Pops said it isn’t like part of Earth.” I wouldn’t admit that was the most shocking part. That it was different than Sharra because it wasn’t part of Earth.

Snow stepped from Dorian’s arms. Grabbed both sides of the mirror and looked directly at me. “I’m a vampire, the Vampire Queen. I have fangs
, for crying out loud. We’re friends with a dragon, and Dorian has become,” she looked back at him, and a sad smile formed on her lips, “something. We aren’t sure what yet. There’s a little vampire girl running about, growing faster than should be physically possible and I’ve released magical creatures upon the humans of the Earth. The fact that Polonias isn’t part of Earth is probably a good thing and should be the least of your worries.” She stepped back. “In our world of weird, knowing another world is inhabited by creatures similar to us is nothing.”

Laughter bubbled from my chest and exploded out with more fo
rce than the tears had. I held my sides as tears of joy leaked down my face. “You are so right. It’s nothing. Just another new and different twist to our crazy lives.”

Snow
laughed with me. “I know. Just when we think it can’t get weirder, it does.”

Dorian joined in. “This is all great and fun, but can Snow
and I get back to bed? I have unfinished business with the Vampire Queen.” His words were sultry, filled with innuendo, and I couldn’t help the slight blush that rose to my cheeks.

Snow and I stopped at once.

“Oh,” Snow said, giving me a sideways look.

Dorian traced his thumb along Snow’s jaw. A pang of sadness filled
my heart because as much as I loved Gabe, what we had wasn’t the same as what Dorian and Snow had. It would be obvious to anyone that Snow and Dorian would do anything for each other, fight through Heaven and Hell to be together.

“Thanks
, Snow. I feel much better. I’ll let you go. Night.”

“Come see us soon. We’d love to have you. Jasmine asks about you everyday.”

I smiled at the mention of Jasmine. The little vampire girl was amazing.

“I will.”

“See
ya, Cindy,” Dorian said, bending so I could see his face in the mirror.

“Yep.” Then I said
, “Mirror. Mirror. Made of glass. Bring back my reflection. Do as I ask.”

Snow waved
as she and Dorian vanished.

My haphazard reflection
was back, and I stared. “What’s wrong with you?” I stuck out my tongue at the stupid girl looking back.

After turning off the bathroom light,
I flopped myself on my bed, burying my face in my covers. The comforter smelled like Gabe, which made me all the sadder.

I dreamt of fire. The smell of burning wood and smoke so
thick I couldn’t see much of anything.

I tried several different spells to dispel the smoke and put out the fire, but my magic didn’t work.

Different shades of reds and oranges flashed above, burning the trees to ash, until all that was left was a gray world with soot that filled my lungs so I couldn’t breathe.

“Come to me, Cinderella.”

His words sank deep into my veins and sinews.

The next morning I woke with a single purpose: find out about Polonias. After I dressed in my favorite True Religion jeans and blue top, I stopped in the kitchen. My mother was there.

“Have you heard of Polonias?”
I blurted it as she took a sip of her morning coffee.

Her
eyes grew large. “Where did you hear that word?”

I decided to be honest. “From Quilla, my fairy godmother.”
I walked to the stove and grabbed a piece of bacon.

My mom
dropped the cup of coffee she’d been holding and the contents spilled across the counter and splashed onto her pink shirt. “You’ve seen Quilla?” She stood, knocking the stool to the floor with a clank. I stepped behind her and picked up the chair.

“Yes, I saw her. She came to my room the other night.”

Her hands shook. “I’ve got to go. I-I need to speak with your father.” She dashed from the kitchen so fast I didn’t even have a chance to say good-bye.

As I chewed on
the bacon, I debated what to do, who I should talk to next. Finally I settled on Abernathy.

I went up to my room and
placed bright blue candles on the floor in the shape of a seven-pointed star. Then I sat in the center, crossed my legs, and closed my eyes.

I knew immediately I’d arrived at Abernathy’s cave. The smell of sulfur and rotting flesh were
instant clues. It was dark. “Lumos,” I whispered and a small light appeared in my right hand. As I walked toward the sound of Abernathy’s snoring, my skin started to crawl. It felt like I was being watched. I quickly glanced around, searching for the culprit, but no one was there. When I reached the edge of Abernathy’s cave, I stopped.

The dragon
wasn’t there. In the center of the cave stood Leo.

“Hi Cinderella. I hope you don’t mind, but I sent Abernathy
out for a snack. He agreed it’d be better if I answered your questions.”

I backed away, allowing the light in my hand to extinguish. I didn’t want to see
Leolar. Not now. Snow didn’t like him. And I didn’t know if I liked him either.

“Go away,” I shouted.

“I can’t do that, Cinderella.” His voice was right in my ear and I screamed. A light like the one I held appeared in his hand. “We’re the same, you and I. And it’s about time you understood what that means.” He grabbed for my hand, but I pulled it away and ran and ran and ran until I was at the entrance of Abernathy’s cave. The air smelled better so close to the opening. I wasn’t in the greatest shape and I bent over, grabbing my knees, gulping in deep breaths.

I heard him in front of me and glanced up. “Just stay away from me,” I
retorted, trying to think of a spell that would make him go away. Nothing came to mind.

“It doesn’t matter what sort of spell you throw
my way. I’ll just counter it with one of my own and I’ve been doing magic since I was four.” He grinned, flashing his white teeth and adorable dimples.

“Stop smiling, dammit.” I stepped back.

His face grew serious. “There is something I need to show you. Someone I want you to meet. Would that be okay?”

I straightened. “Do I have
idiot
stamped across my forehead? Why would I go anywhere with you?”

Leo stepped closer, examining my forehead. “There’s a dirt
smudge and part of a cobweb, but I don’t see a word.” He pulled the cobweb off my forehead, letting it drop to the dirt floor.

A gurgle of laughter erupted from my throat
. Leo gave me a confused look. “Why are you laughing?”

I shook my head. “Merde, you really aren’t from around here are you?”

His eyebrows scrunched together. “No, Cinderella. You’ve seen my land.”

A very unladylike noise came from my nose. I covered it and my mouth.

Leo smiled, his eyes twinkling. “Are you alright?”

“Yes,” I said through my hand.

He reached out and grasped the hand covering my mouth. A shiver of exhilaration ran through my body. “Will you come with me?”

He seemed harmless, but the idea of going to another land with
no knowledge on how I got there or how I’d get back didn’t fill me with warm fuzzies. And to top it off, Snow wasn’t a Leolar fan. It wouldn’t be the smart thing to do. Not even a little bit.

“You’
re scared?” He released my hand and stuck his own in his pants pocket.

“No.” I lifted my chin. If he tried anything, I’d kick his ass.

From his pocket he pulled out a thin chain. It was long, and looked like it was made of silver. On the end was an hourglass.

“Here,” he said, holding it out for me.

I shrunk away. “I don’t want it.”

He took a deep breath. Obviously I was frustrating him. “This is a time charm.” He placed the small hourglass
on the end of the chain between his thumb and first finger and held it up for me to see. The dust inside sparkled like diamonds. “If you hold this in your hand and think of where you want to be, the time charm will take you there.”

I stepped forward
. “So if I wanted to go home, for example, I would just need to think of it and I’d be there?”

Leo grinned, showing off his dimples. “Almost. You must have the time charm in your possession. Also, it can be a little tricky. If you think of two places at once, you might end up in some random location.”

My eyebrows raised in question. That wouldn’t be good.

“Be specific.” He held the necklace in the palm of his hand. “Try it.”

I took it.

“Let’s try somewhere easy.
How about the middle of Abernathy’s cave? I’m going to come with you, so I need to be touching you, okay?”

“Sure.” I licked my lips, nervous.

His warms fingers surrounded my forearm. My heart sped up and I shivered. To cover it up, I cleared my throat. “So, I just think about Abernathy’s cave?”

“Close your eyes.” Leo moved closer to me, so close I could feel his breath on my cheek. “Now think about the rock walls
covered with moss, the dirt floor. The white bones scattered throughout and the bright sky above.” He paused. “Got it?”

I didn’t have to answer. The stench that abruptly
filled my nose made it obvious we’d arrived. I opened my eyes.

Leo
’s eyes were on me. “You’re brilliant.” He leaned in and I thought for a moment he would kiss me. Instead he took the necklace from my palm and placed the chain around my neck. “Will you come with me, Cinderella?”

“Yes.”